Week 1 – Best Bets

Kickoff the season with a win for the defending champs.

It feels like it has been forever but finally we have football back. Here are my best bets of the weekend and we get straight into action with a pick in the season opener.

Broncos +3

I’ll start off with a quick stat. Since the Super Bowl champion has played in the kickoff game, 10 of the 12 reigning champions have won the game. The two that didn’t were the Giants in 2013 and the Ravens in 2014 but they were the only one to play on the road.

Are things really that different from the Super Bowl? The quarterback situation for the Broncos may not be great, but it wasn’t good play from the quarterback that won the title for Denver. I expect the defence to dominate the game once again.

In the past three seasons the Broncos have lost just three regular season home games. 71% of the public money is currently on the Panthers but give me the history and the points.

I also like the Broncos to win outright in this game and the money line at 6/4 is very tempting.

Browns +4

I know a lot of people won’t be on board with the Browns here, but they are facing a rookie quarterback who a week ago wasn’t deemed ready to start. Carson Wentz also missed the majority of the preseason with broken ribs. In the one game he did play he didn’t excel set the world alight. He may well go on to become a very good player, but for now I’m happy to be on the opposite side.

I expect the Browns to upset a few teams this year. I’m not even sure this would really be a big upset. Maybe I am giving RGIII too much credit but I think he can be at least a serviceable quarterback.

Titans +2

I’m a believer in this Titans team this year. I’m expecting Mariota to take a step forward this year.

The Sam Bradford situation isn’t a huge issue for me. I just see this Vikings team as a team that is going to be in lots of close games with lots of AP and good defence. They are not going to be blowing teams away. I see the Titans at least having a chance to win this in the fourth quarter and I’ll take what I consider to be the better offence and the points.

Dave Gray is on Twitter @djg23 and also writes for First and Ten